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Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Green (view source)
Revision as of 07:21, 18 February 2012
, 07:21, 18 February 2012no edit summary
Max is 8 years old. He likes Lego and Star Wars and playing with toy soldiers. He can tell you 102 words that rhyme with tree. He scarfs down grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken and rice. He does not like physical contact. He lives with his mum and dad who argue about what is best for him and why he’s not normal like other boys and girls.
But this is not Max’s story. This is the story of Brudo, Max’s imaginary friend. Imaginer friends, or human friends, are the reason imaginary friends exist. Many lose faith by the time they are Max’s age, and no longer have a need for their companions, but Max is different. He’s special. And so is Brudo. As one of the longest surviving imaginary friends he understands more about the world than a lot of his peers. It helps that Max was, even at age 4, quite good at imaging imagining things. He imagined that Brudo didn’t need sleep, which gives him extra hours in the day to learn things, and to explore. He imagined that Brudo could go off on his own without Max, which allows for midnight excursions to the gas station and hospital and police station where there’s yet more to observe. He imagined Brudo looked a bit like other kids, with arms and legs. Much more useful than being shaped like a spoon or a hair bow or a puppy.
We don’t know what is wrong with Max, though the word 'autistic' springs to mind – even without an official diagnosis, it seems pretty likely he’s on the spectrum. We do know, though, that he attends a regular school and just tries to muddle through. The other children don’t understand him. Some are mean. Others try too hard. For all their interest, it takes a while for people to notice that one day Max is not there. Brudo knows, though. He knows Max has gone and he’s pretty sure he’s in danger, but he doesn’t know where to find him. Since the only person who can see or hear an imaginary friend is their personal imaginer friend, there’s no way he can alert anyone so if anyone can help, it’s going to have to be him. The book picks up pace in a race against time to see if Brudo can intervene before it’s too late.